


things that are close

by bobtheacorn



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Gen, M/M, Yuuri can't fucking see and I love that no one forgets that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-27
Updated: 2017-02-27
Packaged: 2018-09-21 18:01:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9560561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bobtheacorn/pseuds/bobtheacorn
Summary: Yuuri's self-doubt is at the forefront today; Viktor helps the only way he knows how.





	

_"Yuu_ ri!"

Viktor doesn't raise his voice, but it shoots across the ice all the same and jolts Yuuri out of his reverie.  He looks up and wildly around the edge of the rink.  He hadn't heard anyone come in and it takes him a moment longer to spot the blur of silver and red that's propped against the wall near where he set his phone and glasses.  Squinting as he shifts his feet to a stop, Yuuri thinks he sees Viktor lift something up to his face, though he can't make out what it is.

A short laugh echoes in the empty room, "Oh no, they're so bad!"

Yuuri goes warm all over, heart thumping.  Is Viktor talking about his moves?  How much did he see before he decided to say something!?  Yuuri hadn't really been paying attention to what he was doing, he was just going through the motions so he could think, trying to clear his head before practice because Viktor, damn him, _notices_ when something's on his mind…!

Panicked, Yuuri kicks himself forward.

"Sorry, what - ?"

Viktor laughs again, something apologetic as he points toward his own face with both his hands.  Yuuri sees the gesture better now that he's closed some of the distance.

"Your eyes, Yuuri," Viktor says.

Something is on his face - _my glasses_ , Yuuri realizes.  He doesn't know whether to be relieved by this or more embarrassed as he grabs onto the wall, but now that Yuuri is actually close enough to _see_ the broad blue frames perched on the bridge of Viktor's nose, Viktor is pulling them off.

"I didn't realize how poor they were," he says, folding them carefully and setting them aside.  He beams at Yuuri.  "No wonder you look so angry when I'm correcting you sometimes, you can't see the subtle movements that you're doing wrong!  Why didn't you say so?"

There's an unpleasant swoop in the pit of Yuuri's stomach.  He belts out, "I haven't been angry with you for correcting me…!!"

"No, no - the way you scrunch up your face like that, it _looks_ angry.  Well," Viktor amends, "not _angry_.  What is the word?  I forget."  He says something in Russian, hitting the syllables hard, looking puzzled and right at Yuuri as if he might be able to supply it.

The best Yuuri can think of is, _idiotic_ , but he doesn't dare say that out loud.  He can see well enough to get by without his glasses, but he does catch himself "scrunching up his face like that" to try and bring things into focus - things are blurry, and his depth perception suffers.  He does this especially when Viktor is talking to him or showing him something because he wants to pick it up quickly.

Yuuri rubs the side of his face, embarrassed that Viktor noticed.

Viktor shrugs his shoulders and smiles.

"Well, it doesn't matter," he says, "Shall we get started?"

-x-

Apparently, it does matter.  Sometime later, Viktor randomly asks,

"Have you tried contacts?"

They've been trying to get this step sequence to feel right - Yuuri is in the middle of it again when Viktor breaks his concentration, so his movement becomes a bit aimless as he looks at Viktor, surprised by the topic's sudden resurgence.  Then again, it's not unlike Viktor to latch onto something like this and then relentlessly grill him about it...

"I did - when I first started skating," Yuuri says, "But it didn't really help."

He lets his momentum carry him further away from where Viktor is standing, watching him, and keeps his own attention focused on his feet.

"Oh, really?" Viktor prompts.

"Yeah."  Yuri shrugs.  "My eyes dry out on the rink, so sticking contacts in kind of just made it worse.  I could never get them back out.  They burned like crazy."  A bit flustered, he's quick to add, "I can see fine enough to skate, though - I mean, it's never been a problem - "

The hiss of blades on the ice makes him falter and Yuuri stops, looking up.

"Okay," Viktor says as he glides over, "So what is your range?"

He comes much closer than Yuuri is expecting.  He touches Yuuri's elbow to stop himself, feet sliding in between Yuuri's, and holds on so there is hardly a gust of air between them.  Every detail of Viktor's face comes sharply into focus.  His eyes, blue and dark, locking onto Yuuri's; his hair, tickling Yuuri's cheek; his mouth, curved into a soft smile just inches away.

Yuuri's whole body feels hot, his breath pulling in.

"My - ?"

"You have no trouble seeing things that are close."  Viktor tips his head to one side, words warm against Yuuri's mouth,  "So, how close?  Where do things begin to get fuzzy?"

 _HERE_ , shrieks a voice in the back of Yuuri's mind.

"Oh," he says faintly, "Um."

His heart's beating in his throat.  God, he needs space!!  He needs to breathe!!  The clear, cold air of the rink, not whatever it is that makes Viktor smell so _enticing_ \- some foreign soap he brought with him from Russia - an evergreen forest lost in snow, glowing bright in the moonlight.

Yuuri takes a hold of Viktor's elbows, pushes him back with trembling hands.

"About, um - here, I guess."

Arm's length away from his face is where he starts losing minute details.  A few feet more is where everything starts really blending together, and anything further out is only distinguishable in vague shapes and blurred colors.  Viktor hums thoughtfully, looking between them.  Yuuri starts to drop his hands, but Viktor lifts his own and holds lightly onto his forearms.  When he shifts to slide backwards and pulls Yuuri along with him, moving across the ice in easy, fluid strokes, it's easier for Yuuri to just follow his lead (even though he thinks he leaves his stomach behind).

They've skated together side-by-side, but this is a little more intimate than that.

It's slow, careful and quiet.

Yuuri's heart is pounding.

"That's not so bad," Viktor says, looking up at him, smiling again, and Yuuri is intensely aware of how flushed his face must be, "Could you read something from here?"

"P-probably.  Depending on how big the words are."

"Can you still see me clearly?"

"Yes."

Viktor loosens his grip, slides his hands down Yuuri's arms and squeezes his hands.  The movement is small, but electric.  Even through the gloves, his hands are warm.

"How about from here?" he asks.

Yuuri laughs, a little breathless.

"Not really," he says, dropping his gaze, "Um.  Why are you asking…?"

"Just curious," Viktor says, his voice much softer than before.  He tugs on Yuuri's hands, guiding them in a wide circle back toward the center of the rink.  His features are harder to distinguish, now, but Yuuri can still see that he's amused by all this.  Viktor's smile is like a 100 watt light bulb. He could see it in the dark. "I said that I wanted to know everything about you, didn't I?"

Some of the doubt Yuuri has been feeling all day bubbles up from the bottom of his chest, pushing all the warm feelings out.  Before he can catch himself, he says,

"I'm not really that interesting..."

It's one of the things that's been haunting him, really.  Even after the Hot Springs On Ice competition, and the closer they get to completing his free program… it's difficult to explain.  Some days… Yuuri feels like he's tricking Viktor into staying here, wonders how he even managed it at all.  He feels like he's wasting Viktor's time, that he really doesn't have that much to offer.  That Viktor is looking for something in him that just maybe _isn't there..._

Viktor's hands tightening around his brings Yuuri back.

"Mhh.  We can agree to disagree on that for now," Viktor says, dismissive in a way that plainly says he wants to disagree outright, but won't.  He tugs on Yuuri's hands, bringing him closer; new fervor in his voice and eyes, the way he moves.  Yuuri's heart launches into his throat.  "Most people think their own lives are boring because they live them every single day.  It's not until something new and exciting comes along that we can really appreciate how adventurous life can be."

There's a mischievous look on his face - a wide, eager smile, a glint in his blue eyes - it's the only warning Yuuri has.  Viktor kicks his foot out to turn them and instead uses the built up momentum to swing Yuuri around in a tight circle, their hands locked together.  It happens so fast that Yuuri doesn't have time to think.  His knees bend, body tipping into the spin automatically.

The pull of Viktor's hands, his weight anchoring them, the pleasant jolt in the pit of Yuuri's stomach and the rush of warmth across his skin.

It's a single rotation, and it takes his breath away.

Yuuri laughs, a sharp sound that leaps across the ice.

"Don't you think so?" Viktor asks, laughing with him, glowing and grinning, still squeezing his hands.

 _He's amazing,_ Yuuri thinks desperately, star-struck again for the millionth time.  He can't say that - can't wrap his tongue around what he really wants to say - so he says, "I guess."

Viktor seems fine with that.

"Good!"  For the first time, he looks away from Yuuri, getting his bearing as he springs right back into coaching mode, "Now, about this step sequence - I know you're having a hard time with it.  Want me to show you something I think might help?  You can take a video maybe, so you can watch up close and don't miss anything!"

Again, inexplicably, Viktor is meeting him halfway and Yuuri hadn't even known that he was reaching out.  He's not used to this.  Not used to having someone be so close, not used to _wanting_ someone close.  It's so different with Viktor… his hands, his voice, his warm smile and bright eyes.  He gives Yuuri all of these things so easily - even when he's clamming up, even when he's pulling back - just letting Yuuri know that he's _here._

Yuuri can't help wondering... what does he give Viktor back?

 


End file.
